Yates has a full season planned in 2014, but her year started off with a DNF at January’s Rocky Racoon 100 (2014’s 100M National Trail Championship) due to a dizzy spell—a potential medical condition that she’s still trying to figure out. She’ll toe the starting line at April’s Lake Sonoma 50M, a qualifier for the Western States 100, a race for which she says she’s always had passion. We caught up with Yates, who works as a personal trainer through her business DreamLiveRun in Littleton, Colorado. Here’s what she has to say about four-hour speed workouts, quitting competitive bodybuilding to focus on running, and not eating Oreos.

Do you have a favorite win from 2013?Michele Yates: "Run Rabbit Run (in Steamboat, Colorado). It was just such a challenging course and a pretty deep field. We got hit with all sorts of weather. It was sunny and nice when it started in the afternoon. Then, when we were running through the night there was a thunderstorm, and it was snowing at one point. It was really one thing after another. I really enjoyed the challenge of it. I felt like I was not only proving myself to everybody else—it was kind of my breakthrough in the ultrarunning world—but I was proud of myself. Happy."

Any disappointing races?MY: "I had an IT Band injury mid-year and raced the World Championships IIU in Wales. Traveling all the way over to Wales was a dream come true, but it was bittersweet. I finished second to last, but I scored points for the team. We had to score, so I had to finish."

Tell me about the Indiana Trail 100? Weren’t there flood conditions? MY: "That was my first 100-Miler, and I was trying to break the American record for the fastest 100. But the rain and flooding was extreme …extreme beyond what anyone had imagined. Literally, parts of the course were under water. People were dropping out because of hypothermia. When it started, it was 20 degrees and snowing. There was waist-deep water on me (I’m only 5’2”), so you’re just drenched. The mud part of it was so taxing. It really brought that race to a whole new level.

I was still on record pace at Mile 60, but there were parts of the course where I was almost swimming. Several of the elite men dropped out at that point. The course was in loops, and the race director had everyone come through, and he rerouted part of the course to change it to bushwhacking.

It was awesome, though. I loved the fact that it was that challenging. I was double-layered head to toe. I burned so many calories, I couldn’t eat enough to keep up. I’d be coming through those aid stations, telling my husband, 'I’m so hungry!'"

Photo by Wyatt Yates

With your degree in kinesiology, and your current role as a trainer and coach, it seems like you have a lot of knowledge to draw from in your racing. Do you agree?MY: "Yes. I coach myself. I’m very grateful to have earned my degree and continue to educate myself, as well as know myself. Instead of trial and error with a coach, I know enough to minimize the whole trial and error getting into races and during races. In ultras, you’re always learning. It just depends whether or not you take the information and apply it.

There’s a big difference between an elite and someone who does it for fun. As an elite you have to do speedwork and dial in your nutrition more. You can still do well taking it easy and having a good time and eating Oreos. I’m jealous of all the Oreo eaters."

I take it you don’t eat Oreos at aid stations?MY: "I have some food allergies—gluten and dairy. I ran into some trouble at Rocky Racoon, where I was trying to break the World Record. I’m working with some doctors to figure it out."

What do you think happened?MY: "I got slapped in the face at the 67-mile mark and just couldn’t kick it. I was stumbling around on a rooty trail covered in leaves. I hardly could focus on walking straight. I thought, 'Okay I’ll just shake this off.’ I couldn’t. I was peeing and eating okay. I was at least 30 minutes ahead of the next female, and ahead of the world record. I made it back to an aid station and fell over in a chair there.

I knew something was wrong. I’ve been through lows before. It wasn’t that."

So nothing like this has happened before?MY: "I have Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. In 2003, I had a heart ablation done, where they go in through veins and arteries and melt the extra pathways in your heart. With that condition, we’re thinking there are some post-issues there. It’s not 100 percent effective when they first do it.

But I’m having gallbladder and liver problems as well. It might be the food allergies… We’re trying to piece the puzzle together to figure out what’s going on, and why it happened at Rocky. It was really humid, and I was eating more gels -- more caffeine, more sodium -- than I usually do.

But having Wolff-Parkison-White, I feel like my heart is racing. Not palpitations… It’s more mild, is what I can say. The surgery is proven to be 100 percent effective if you get it done twice, but there’s a 5 percent chance of death and 50 percent chance of a pacemaker. When I did the surgery, I was 21. When I woke up on that table, I asked if I have a pacemaker. I wouldn’t have been able to race if I did."

It seems like that was a big turning point in your life. Is there a turning point among races for you, as well?MY: "In 2011, I made the mountain trail running for 8K. I felt like that was my calling. Trail was what I was made for; I had speed but was stronger. But I got E Coli poisoning and tied for 20th.

I’ve had bad luck at some races. At NACAC in Canada I got bed bugs, head to toe. My eyes were swollen, but I got fifth. Getting bed bugs was like my worst nightmare ever. I couldn’t sleep for a long time. Now I like to camp a lot."

Can we talk about what you’ve taken from your success in bodybuilding and put into your running?MY: It’s more that my running brought more success to my bodybuilding. In 2007, I won some money at a road marathon and could afford to do the bodybuilding, which was on my bucket list. I did really well and won everything in all the divisions. The judges said, 'You could go pro right away.' I was like, 'What does that even mean in this sport?' I always thought of it as a fitness beauty pageant.

From there I still ran and raced and won Miss Figure Colorado in 2008. Then I went to go to the next level to get my pro card, but I literally walked off stage because I realized it was not gratifying. I really didn’t need to be up there. I got caught up in it. I was like, 'This is stupid, I’m gonna go run a race.'

My ambitions and my excitement were more for running. I just happened to realize it when I was on stage. I probably looked like an idiot walking off."

What’s your training like?MY: "I usually don’t take a day off, except for once every three weeks. I train seven days a week. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I do a 20-30-minute tempo, then an hour to four hours of speedwork, and lift weights. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do a tempo run. And Sunday is my long day, but if I want, I’ll run only 30 minutes that day. I keep that all on trail and include some kind of big climb. It’s family time with my husband and two dogs. I’d rather take that day as a hiking day and apply the training to quality instead of a quantity junk run. But it’s roughly 80 miles a week, sometimes pushing up and above the 100-mile mark."

You do one to four hours of speedwork? Can you explain that?MY: "I walk in between. But yeah, I’ll do 20 miles of speedwork sometimes.

And I swap in biking for tempo sometimes. Knowing myself comes into play. You really gotta walk a fine line to be successful. I’m a gambler, so I walk that fine line. Bad things can happen in a race, and you could overdo it too."

You’ve been married a year-and-a-half. Is he a runner?MY: "He was a wrestler in college. He did do one ultra, but he has no cartilage in one knee. He pushes it, and it blows up on him. He wants to do a 100-Miler, but he’s looking at doing some speedhiking. He is my main crew, and he’s come a long way with that. I guess I’ll keep him around."